A battle for the hearts

I was watching the news last night, trying to catch a glimpse of Png Eng Huat on TV. The coverage of Desmond Choo and the PAP was quite extensive, running into minutes. Desmond got the most air time, speaking at the podium. So I waited to see how much time was given to Png Eng Huat. All I saw was Sylvia Lim, Chen Show Mao and Pritam Singh. Png Eng Huat was not featured at all. Oh I got a glimpse of him in his walkabout, maybe 2 sec.

After a couple of days of coverage mainly on PAP candidate, finally we are seeing some balance in coverage for the two candidates and parties today. Is this a result of the criticism in cyberspace that it was a one sided reporting and a no choice situation to show some fairness in reporting? The perception and comments in cyberspace were that the reporting was obviously a one sided affair.

And what about the campaign tactics itself? The ruling party could have gone on to tell the voters of what they could do for them, on how good they are in meeting the aspirations of the Hougang people. But the key issue was to run down Png Eng Huat, calling him dishonest, questioning his integrity with a sneaky copy of the minutes of WP CEC meeting which was confidential and should not be in the hands of outsiders. The WP cannot use the OSA to arrest anyone, and that sneaky act was used repeatedly everyday to run down the WP candidate.

How this sneaky copy of minutes got into the hands of the PAP is definitely not the fault of the PAP. It must be from someone untraceable, anonymous. Maybe some unhappy WP CEC member. Definitely not a PAP supporter. The people waving this piece of minutes are definitely honourable people and would not stoop to this kind of nefarious activity to get hold of the minutes of a confidential meeting. Waving them in public is also nothing to be ashamed of.

We are at the end of the campaigning. Who will win the hearts of the people, not only the people of Hougang? Every Singaporean interested is watching the whole show and taking notes of how the game was played, who is honourable, who is dishonest, who is playing fair, who is cheating all the way. And they will make their own judgement for this by election and subsequent elections to come.

The verdict will be out in a couple of days. Who have won the hearts of daft Sinkies? Who have taken the Sinkies for granted?

Desmond Choo distancing himself from NCMP issue

Desmond Choo is trying to fight a gentleman’s election in Hougang. He knew that belaboring on the NCMP issue and questioning Png Eng Huat’s integrity over it is like hitting below the belt and will make him look bad. He chooses to be a gentleman and to distance himself from talking about it. He does not want to slip into the longkang.

And I think Png Eng Huat is also doing his best not to attack Desmond Choo personally or drag out other unkind things to say. Hougang voters deserve to see these two candidates fight a fair fight, on issues and on how they want to represent them in parliament, and on bigger things. Parliament needs decent people who will be there to talk about issues of the state and of the people, not to go for character assassination. Though some really believe that they are immortals, the truth is out there for all to see. Mortals will be mere mortals.

Hope Desmond Choo and Png Eng Huat will stay on course and not be misled into petty squabbles. The people of Hougang will have the final say and vote the one they think is best for Hougang and for all the people of the country.

More Sinkie jokes

The banking industry is hailing a grand plan to groom Singaporeans for key positions. My God, they suddenly realized that barely any Singaporeans are good enough to fill key positions in the banks. No wonder they have to bring in foreigners to fill the many top positions in the banks. Sad isn’t it. And it looks like one whole generation of Singaporean bankers have been wasted and now a plan to groom young Singaporeans for the future. Hopefully in 30 years we will have some Singaporeans that are found good enough to fill the top positions in the banking industry.

And the reason is simple. There are just not enough Sinkies with the right experience and skill sets in the banking and finance industries to fill up the top jobs. Now they have to go to third world countries to look for them. What is the matter? A regional financial centre, with aspiration to be a world financial centre, or nearly there, could not train of produce bankers with the right experience and skills. And only small cities in some corners of the world can produce such talents. Is this meant to be a joke? April 1st has gone by for nearly two months! I would think all the third world aspirants who want to learn the latest skills in finance would want to come here to learn the ropes?

If a world class financial centre is not the place to train and throw up experienced bankers, where else can do better? Timbuktu or Fiji Island, or Mauritius? Maybe Bermuda Triangle. And what to think of our world class universities when second and third grade universities from Australia to the US are supposedly producing better and cleverer graduates to fill the top posts here? Gaming the score sheets to be ranked among the best is looking more like a futile exercise, like the straight A graduates that are found wanting to third class graduates from lower ranked universities.

And the banks were proud to tell that 75% or 80% of their employees were Singaporeans AND PRs. What the fuck is this PR thing lumped together with Singaporeans? How many are Singaporeans and how many are PRs? Please tell. Another cannot face daylight fact of Sinkie Land.

This must be a classic joke of paradise.

Making fallacious political statements

Everyday I am bombarded with points that Png Eng Huat is a NCMP reject, honesty or integrity in question, and WP is not respecting Hougang voters by insisting on offering them a reject. I am finding this line of thought a bit amusing and could be turned around and played up as well.

Notwithstanding that Png Eng Huat’s nomination to be NCMP is a totally different issue. Nothwithstanding that even if he was a reject by his CEC, lets look at how would this apply to the PAP candidate.

Desmond Choo was a reject by the Hougang voters in the last election, not rejected by his CEC. His predecessor was a reject over and over again by the Hougangkia. This is direct rejection by the voters, not something that is remote from the context of the election, to ask for the voters acceptance.

Next, why is WP not respecting Hougang voters and forcing them to accept a reject to a NCMP post? Or put it the other way, why is the PAP not respecting the Hougang voters and forcing them to accept candidates that have been found not good enough and have been rejected, in Eric Low’s case, over several GEs?

The other point is about integrity and commitment to serve the Hougangkia. Over the last 20 years, were the PAP there for the Hougang residents when its campaign line is ‘Always there for you?’ Yes, they were there, but many things that the Hougang residents needed and wanted were out of their reach while the PAP was there.

Would the same be the same again if the WP wins? Would Hougang be at the end of the queue for goodies and handouts? Would PAP respect the wishes of the Hougangkia and offer them a better candidate in the next GE and not another reject?

Political arguments are full of holes and can be twisted and turned to suit whatever purposes at the moment. Just bite on a little error or misquote a word, and don’t let go. Shaft the knife in and give it a twist to make sure it sticks. But most political arguments cannot hold water and are made only to score a few points for the moment, if they could agitate the emotions of the listeners. When one steps back, cool down, think about it, most political arguments are just plain hogwash, like mine : )

The brave Hougang spirit

The brave Hougang spirit cannot be dampened by a little rain. There is a sense of pride, a lot of enthusiasm and a lot of hope in the faces of those in the Workers Party rally. This kind of spirit has not been seen for a very long time. They were the losers, the underdogs. They did not go there for freebies. They were not coaxed to be there. They were there, willingly, happily, to support their party and the candidate.

This is something the PAP would have to reckon with. They used to command this kind of crowd and support. They must now recognize that the people of Hougang are very different. Not only Hougang, there were many from other parts of the island joining the WP supporters, to stand under the rain, to brave the down pour, to be with their leaders on stage, who were equally drenched. But you could see them smiling and knowing that the people are truly behind them. There is a unity of heart and soul that money cannot buy.

The spectators could sense it, could feel it. Political leaders surely know that they have won the hearts of the people. I think they have won the election even before the campaign is over.